Everything Changes
by Muggleborn-Meghan1992
Summary: The Golden Trio is back at Hogwarts...but this year, there is another boy who has Hermione's attention. How will this affect her other friendships? and better yet...how will it affect her? Pure fluff. No flamers plz.
1. Brooks

**Hey everyone…I'mmmm Baaaackkkk! But with a different type of story this time….well still romance (duh) but a different story. Please read, enjoy, and review in the end! Also..this takes place in the Golden Trio's 6th year…so lets pretend that there was no HBP…allright? And I'm forewarning you…this story is all fluff! No Voldermort here…..okay, I'll shut up now, BuH-ByE!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the character Brooks….everything else belongs to J.K rowling!**

Hermione Granger looked around at the Great Hall, at all the students milling in, and the wonderful smelling food that was on their breakfast plates. Her best friends, Ron Weasly and Harry Potter sat on either side of her, both of them stuffing their mouths full of the delicious food.

"Oh come on guys, its not _that _good." She told them. They looked up to see a disgusted look on their best friends face. Harry looked at Ron, and then shrugged his shoulders. He went back to eating, though taking considerably smaller bites. Ron didn't know what else to do, so he followed Harry's lead. Hermione bent over, and started to wrench up her heavy book bag.

**_RIIIPPP!_**

Her bag had ripped at the seams, obviously from the strain of the heavy books that she had in tow. Harry and Ron (both with smirks plastered on their faces, and Ron saying a quick "I told you this would happen") bent down to help her pick up her books. Then suddenly, she sensed that someone else was there. She looked up into the dark brown eyes of a boy she really didn't recognize. He smiled at her, and extended his hand. In it was clutched the last thick volume of her collection.

"Thanks." She said. She still couldn't look away from those amazing eyes. "Who are you?" she blurted, without thinking.

"Brooks." He said. "And you are?"

"Um, Hermione Granger." She stammered.

"Well, Hermione, if I were you, I would take a lighter load of books when I went somewhere." She finally realized that he still had the book in his hand. She quickly took it from him, this time taking him in fully for the first time.

He was tall, with dark brown hair that was slightly curly at the ends, he had thin glasses, and amazing facial features, which included an award worthy smile, curious brown eyes, and a nose that just seemed too perfect for words.

"Well, I guess I will see you around then." he said, and turned away. She watched him walk to the Ravenclaw table and sit amongst some other boys, who she concluded were his friends.

"Seems like a strange bloke, doesn't he?" asked Harry. Ron nodded his head.

"Yep. He did seem a bit too quiet. Speaking of which, Hermione, what has gotten into you?" She turned around and shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

"Oh, its nothing. Well what do we have on our schedules for today?" **(A/N: The school year has just started.) **

"Well we have double transfiguration, history of magic, a break, lunch, then Double Potions (Ron emitted a loud groan), charms, another break, then Astronomy." Harry read off. "Seems like a bit of a heavy load this year, doesn't it?" he asked wearily.

"A bit? A bit…that's the understatement of the year." Ron said miserably. Harry snorted into his oatmeal. Hermione, however, was delighted. If the teachers piled on more homework, that meant she would be able to spend more time at one of her favorite places in the world: the Hogwarts library. They finished breakfast and headed off to the Transfiguration classroom. Hermione pretend to be mildly interested in their conversation about Quidditch (did those boys ever think of anything else?) but her thoughts had taken her elsewhere.

She found herself wondering about what year Brooks was in, and if enjoyed Quidditch as much as her best friends did. She hadn't ever seen him at the games; in fact, she had rarely seen him around the school at all, much less known him by name.

Her mind was pulled back to earth as a very stern Professor McGonagall entered the classroom, taking several strides until she had reached the front of the class.

"Good morning, 6th years." She said into the toneless room. "Now today we will be practicing turning the lily pad in front of you into a toad." She gave them the incantation and set them about their business.

By the end of the class, several people had managed to make at least some change to their lily pads, while there were still a few who had not yet managed it. They were all given the homework of writing a two foot essay on doing the incantation and movements correctly, and to practice.

Next was the most easily boring subject, History of Magic, which the ghost, Professor Binns taught. Hermione was the only one who managed to stay awake during his boring lecture, but even she had started to feel drowsy by the end of class. She didn't even realize the class was over until she saw some of her classmates start to wake from their sleep.

Professor Binns shut his book, muttered "Good day.", and went back through the wall behind his desk. She decided she had best head to the library to get started on her paper work. When she told Harry and Ron this, they both looked at her like she was crazy.

"Yeah, well if you need us, we'll be in the common room playing Exploding   
Snap." Harry said, before turning and starting to walk away.

"Well if you were smart, you would be doing the same thing as me!" she called after him. She turned and went her own way, muttering "Boys." She reached the library in no time, found an empty table and set to work. In only a few moments, a third of her work was done.

But her hand was cramping horribly from all of her writing. So she took a break, and decided to look around for a new book. She was just pulling an interesting looking volume off the shelf when she saw a familiar looking face over in the corner of the library.

"Hey," she said to Brooks, walking over to where he was sitting at a table on a straight backed chair.

"Hey," he smiled back, looking up from the book which he had been reading. She took a look at the cover. It read in gleaming letters _Advanced Charms for 7th Years_. So that answered the question of what year he was in.

"Homework?" she asked inquiringly, pointing to the book.

"Nah, just a little extra reading. My friends all think I'm crazy, but I know it will help me in the long run, so I figure, why not get it out of the way, you know?" She said nothing, but shook her head up and down. When she finally spoke, it was not in her usual, know it all voice.

"Yeah, I come in here a lot too. It's kind of my sanctuary from all the Quidditch talk from the guys. And I love reading everything in here…you never get bored." His nose had wrinkled somewhat when she said "Quidditch" but went back to his usual grin.

"Yeah, I'm not much for Quidditch. I mean, it is a fun game and everything, but it just gets old after a while." She smiled sympathetically. "I know what you mean. So are you from a wizarding family or muggle?" she asked.

"Oh, I am the first in my family to have any magic at all. I come from a long line of muggles. What about you?"

"The same." But before either could say anything else, the bell for lunch rang. **(A/N: IDK if they really have bells, but there has to be some way of signaling that a class is over, so I figured this would work.)**

"Catch you later." He said with a wink, and then he was gone. Hermione found herself wishing that if only she were a year older….

**Well what do you think? I hope you like it….I'm just trying something new. Please review and tell me what you think…and I will try to make this more interesting and funny and a little more romantic before long…so plz review!**

**LoTsA LoVe**

**MaYe**


	2. Hermione's Problem

**Hey everyone….I loved the THREE reviews I got… Thank you LOYAL people….I love you guys for LEAVING THOSE REVIEWS…. (Have you gotten the hint yet?) I mean…28 hits…3 reviews….does that seem right to you? Well it isn't…so plz plz plz review….it makes updating much more easier. **

**Disclaimer: Do I sound like Jo to you? No…I am not. **

"Where have you been?" hissed Ron as Hermione hurriedly sat down in her seat, just as the bell rang. "You are off your rocker…almost being late to Snape's class on the first day back. A complete nutter."

"Wait; let me guess why you skipped lunch." Harry said mock-teasingly. "You were in the library doing McGonagall's essay." Hermione said nothing, but blushed a furious shade of red, which gave away her answer anyway.

Hermione had never appreciated the view of the windows so much before. She didn't want to talk about seeing Brooks in the library…they would just tease her even worse about being there. Finally, the subject was moved on to less embarrassing things. And for once, Hermione was glad there was such a thing as Quidditch.

Since the boys usually felt her information and input on these kind of conversations wasn't needed, she was able to left her mind wander to different places. Like homework, and her Prefect duties that she had tonight.

And also…though she hated to admit it…Brooks. She had really enjoyed talking to him, but now that she looked back on their conversation, she felt like she hadn't said anything that would have been remotely interesting to Brooks.

One thing she was glad she did get out of the way though; he was a muggleborn like her, so she wouldn't have to listen to him go on about how awful Mudbloods are. If she ever got the courage to walk up to him again. Their lesson began, so Ron and Harry had to leave their heated debate about who was a better Keeper in the British League.

"Sit down and be quiet." Snape instructed them menacingly. After that, he set them on making a Polijuice Potion, though he told them that he would be checking their pockets as they left, making sure that they had not brought any with them.

Hermione knew this would be a breeze, having made the potion successfully (and illegally) in her second year. As the class progressed, she could see the other students were having a bit of a hard time with the potion, though she seemed to be finding no difficulties at all.

Snape walked around the class making a rude remark here, giving a scathing glare here. When he got to Hermione's cauldron he stopped, obviously looking for something to criticize. He looked down over his long hooked nose at her.

"Something wrong Professor?" she asked sweetly, when inside she was going, _Eugh. Does that greasy git ever wash his hair? _

"Five points for your cheek Granger. And make sure you keep doing this right, silly girl. " He said, glaring evilly at her. She looked furiously at his back, as he turned and walked away. If looks could kill, Snape would have been dead ten times over. No one called Hermione a silly girl, not if she could help it.

She left the class in a huff, not even bothering to wait up for her friends. _Call me a silly girl…I'll show him…_She had been thinking so hard, she hadn't watched where she was going.

"Oof!" she said, as she ran into something. She glared up from her position on the ground, but her features softened instantly into a smile. Correction, she had not bumped into something, but rather someone. A rather attractive someone, who happened to have just the perfect nose and brown curly hair.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked, looking down at her. She nodded, and tried to life herself up, but she gave a soft "oh!" and fell again to the floor. A sharp pain had shot through her right ankle. She must have landed on it when she fell.

"I think I hurt my ankle…" she whimpered. It was now throbbing where she had tried to stand up on it. He looked worried for a moment.

"Come on," he said, bending down to scoop her up. "We'll go to the Hospital Wing and have Madame Pomfrey take a look at it." As happy as she was to have the opportunity to see him again (and hey, she was in his arms, who was she to complain?) but she would have rather been with a group full of giggling, popular girls, and Brooks had stopped to talk to her by choice. She would not, however, chosen to run into him and then hurt herself. She didn't usually take pride in playing the total needy clingy girl.

"Hang on." She told him, knowing that he probably didn't want to be carrying her anyway. "Put me down for a second." He listened to her, though he looked somewhat confused. She hopped onto her left ankle, and pointed her other leg as straight as she could get it.

"_Rapnotagera_," she said and instantly her leg splinted itself. She stood up as best she could on both feet. If she tilted her ankle at a certain angle, she would be able to walk.

"Thank you," she said, turning to Brooks. " But there really wasn't a need for you to carry me." She smiled gratefully at him though. He looked at he for a second, then shrugged his broad shoulders.

"That's fine. Do you still want me to come with you? Or can you make it by yourself?" Hermione thought for a minute. But she decided she could still get him to help a little.

"Well see the thing is…I don't know how well I can walk." She lied. She tried to take a few clumsy steps forward and purposely started swaying a little, still trying to hop jump on her left foot.

He took her right arm and put it around his neck, and lifted her ever so slightly. Now it actually was easier to walk, although it took longer than it would have taken if he had continued to carry her. Brooks seemed to be reading her mind.

"You know, this would have been a lot quicker if you had let me carry you," he joked.

"Well it really wasn't necessary when I can walk by myself." She told him. He shook his head, laughing just a little.

"But the thing is, you cant."

"Good point." She said thoughtfully. They were almost there now. He completely lifted her now, to where she was up over his shoulder.

"I'm sorry but you are just going to have to hang on a minute, because my shoulder was killing me from the position. She felt bad for hurting him.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, trying to at least somewhat correct her mistake.

"Don't be," he replied, setting her down outside the door gently.

"Just wait here for a second." He said, opening the door to the Wing, going to fetch Madame Pomfrey. Now that he was gone, she dared to breathe normally again. And when she did, she inhaled the soft smell of cologne. Brooks had obviously been wearing it. She smiled as she thought about the past fifteen minutes. She was contemplating on whether or not she could consider it a conversation that she would want to remember, when she heard Brooks and Madame Pomfrey come back.

"-And then she fell and hurt her ankle. She put a nice little splint on it but she cant walk real well."

"Sounds like a simple sprain, but we will have to wait and see…might be broken." Said the voice of the school nurse, answering Brooks. The door was pushed open, and Madame Pomfrey bent down to look at me.

"Oh heavens, I can't see anything properly in this hallway for the life of me. Come on inside, and we'll get a better look at you." So between her and Brooks, they were able to get me lifted and onto one of the beds. My ankle was throbbing again painfully now.

"I'd say that you have a pretty severe sprain. You would have been better off breaking it. But the way you sat on it tore some muscle tissue too."

Sheesh, that was a lot to do just for twisting it and sitting on it.

"I can mend it, but it will still be sore for several days, and you won't be able to walk without being in pain. Do you want crutches, or do you have someone to help you?" Hermione had been fully intent on saying "yes" thinking of Ron and Harry ( she hoped they wouldn't mind too much) but Brooks answered for her.

"I'll do it; it is partly my fault that she hurt herself anyway." Hermione's heart seemed to feel about 10 times lighter, and had a warm, good feeling inside her, almost like a glow of happiness that was spreading out through every inch of her body.

_Brooks offered to help me!_ She thought excitedly, her heart fluttering at the thought. Madame Pomfrey smiled in approval.

"That's very nice of you young man. I'm sure you girlfriend enjoys having a good boy like you around." Hermione turned beet red, and he heart began fluttering even more. She was sure her face was the color of the Weasly's hair. Brooks, however, seemed unaffected.

"We are just friends." He said simply. He thanked Madame Pomfrey for her help, after she fixed Hermione's foot. Hermione couldn't find the words to say anything nice, so she just nodded her head. Brooks walked her back slowly to Gryffindor tower. Here was a tense unnatural silence between them.

"I am sorry about that back there." She said quietly, after a long time of walking in silence.

"You apologize too much." He said, smiling at her. She blushed in return. He continued on.

"Don't be sorry. She just didn't know. Besides, it is just some silly little thing, doesn't mean anything." He said, putting it ff. Hermione had a feeling that even Brooks was feeling a little uncomfortable this time. They had reached Gryffindor tower.

"I can get it form here." She told him.

"You sure?" he asked, eying the step that she had to get over. "Should we wait until some one comes out?"

"No I can do it on my own." She assured him. There was a long pause.

"Well, goodnight then." He said, turning to walk away.

"Yeah, 'Night." She replied to his back.

_No,_ she thought, as she climbed through the portrait hole, her ankle throbbing painfully,_ this is definitely not a conversation that I want to remember. _

**SO what did you guys think? I hope you like… it was a really long and well thought out chapter. So plz review for my efforts! Thanks ever so much!**

**LoTsA LoVe**

**MaYe**

**P.S. here is another great read…The Diary of Lord Voldemort. It has short entries…but it is hilariousok…g2g**

**BuH-ByE!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone…this is the second chapter of a story that I have typed tonight… I will try to make this a good chapter, but I am not Jo so don't expect too much out of poor little ol' me. Anyway… please review for my superb efforts.**

**LoTsA LoVe**

**MaYe**

"Hermione!" Ron gasped as she clumsily stumbled into the common room. "What happened to you? Why didn't you go to Charms?" Then Harry spoke before Hermione could utter a word.

"What's with the splint on your leg? What did you do?" He looked worriedly down at her.

"Guys I am fine," she said, gingerly sitting down on one of the soft cushions on the couch.

"Oh yes, I am sure that you are extraordinary, because it is so like you to skip a class and then turn up with a bandaged limb!!!" Ron exclaimed angrily.

"Just let me explain before both of you blow a gasket. When I left charms, I ran into Brooks-"

"That strange bloke we met at breakfast? What were you doing with him?"

"If you would let me finish!" Hermione said impatiently. She hated being interrupted, especially after she had just been asked a question. Harry said nothing more, but looked quite sullen for a few minutes. Hermione began speaking again.

"Anyway, I ran into him, literally, and I fell down and twisted my ankle. Well he took me to the hospital wing because he said he felt like it was partly his fault. And that took us forever to get there because I couldn't walk really well."

"If he were more respectful of women, he would have offered to carry you." Ron said protectively.

"He did, but I told him that I could walk on my own, just not very fast or well. So he escorted me to the hospital wing, and Madame Pomfrey took a look at it. She mended it as best she could, but said that the way I twisted it was very delicate and magic could only do so much healing. So it will be sore for a few days and I am going to have to have Brooks help me to class and stuff."

She finished, and she waited for the flow of questions that were sure to come. And she was right.

"Why is he helping you? I mean we could have done it!"

"I think he has got something up his sleeve, I mean the guy barely knows you and now he is offering to spend all of his time with you…Don't you think that is a little strange?"

"Look, when Madame Pomfrey told me I would need help for a few days, he offered to help me with my books and stuff. It doesn't mean anything." Ron snorted disbelievingly and Harry gave me a look that quite plainly stated, "Yeah right."

"Look, you guys trust me, right?" Hermione said, desperately. They both nodded their heads.

"And you trust my judgment and knowledge on both things?" Again, they both nodded their heads.

"Then you should know that I trust Brooks. I don't think that he would do anything to hurt me."

"But is this based on the fact that you know things about him that you aren't telling us, or perhaps you have yet to tell us of a crush on him." Hermione forced herself not to blush or give any indication that this was true, especially since Ron was eyeing her with inquiring eyes.

" Why would I like him? I don't even know him all that well. I just know that he seems like a nice guy and Madame Pomfrey obviously wouldn't have assigned him to help me if she though he was going to be a problem."

Neither of her friends could come up with a rebuttal to this statement. They both gazed at her for a long while, as though not sure what to say next.

"Well, if you don't mind, I think that I am going to try to go take a short nap before our Astronomy lesson tonight. It has been a long day." With that, she turned around and headed off to the girls dormitories.

She took a good while to get up the stairs, and by the time she reached the top, she felt thoroughly exhausted. She fell into a deep sleep with wonderful dreams about a certain brown haired boy with a perfect nose. She didn't know that soon she would be awakening by a scream from none other than Ginny Weasly.

**Hope you liked. Please review. **


	4. Chapter 4

I** am so sorry that I haven't updated in forever but don't count on me starting to get better at it now. So yeah, I'm just writing this because I had…lets call it inspiration from a certain someone. Yeah, that will do nicely. ; ) **

**Disclaimer: Nope, not me, don't own it. I just own this plot and the character Brooks…sighs if only I could own the real thing…hmmm. Wait ignore that. : )**

"Hermione!! Wake up!"

Hermione turned over and switched on her light. The other girls in Hermione's room also awoke with a start.

"What is it Ginny?" Hermione whispered wearily. Ginny was already dressed and looked completely ready for the school day.

"Come on silly goose. It's five thirty. Time to rise and shine. The birds are singing, the sun is rising, and you have something you need to tell me." Hermione saw felt and saw a motion on her left and ducked just in time as a pillow flew across the room and hit Ginny in the stomach.

"FIVE THIRTY????" Hermione distinctly recognized the voice of her room mate Lavender Brown. "Are you mad?? Who in their right mind gets up this early and proceeds to wake all the normal sleeping people? Get out of here!" Ginny giggled which was absolutely the wrong thing to do as it riled Lavender even more.

"Just go back to sleep Lavender," Hermione said tiredly. "You," she said, pointing a finger at Ginny and beckoning her to follow, "Come with me." They stepped outside of the room, Hermione trying not to limp, and onto the landing.

"Now what's this all about?" Hermione said and gave a huge shuddering yawn. "Now if you woke me to tell me that you have realized the error of your ways and are ready to become a serious student, then that's all fine and dandy. But you shouldn't start by waking yourself up at this ungodly hour. "

"I'm not here to tell you anything of the sort!" Ginny said excitedly. Hermione could tell that whatever the reason, Ginny was bursting to tell but at the same time, willing herself not to.

"Then why on earth did you wake me up so early?" Hermione was now beginning to fully wake up, and she also was starting to feel a little irritated, not to mention chilly. All she had on was a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top and she was freezing. Hermione had no idea the tower got this cold this early in the morning.

"Because you have to tell me everything! I just have to know!" The eagerness on Ginny's face was almost too much for Hermione and she started to smile, unsure of what Ginny was talking about.

"Okay, I'll play. What do you want to know?" Now Hermione could tell that Ginny was a little frustrated.

"Oh, don't play dumb. I want to know all about the 7th year Ravenclaw you were with yesterday!" Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Brooks? What about him?"

"Come on Hermione. You around a guy besides Harry or Ron? There is something going on there." Ginny looked at Hermione with a self satisfied smirk on her face.

"Look there isn't anything going on between us. I twisted my ankle and he happened to be around so he offered to help." Hermione took a look out the window where the sun was already starting to light up the sky from black to grey. "And why did you have to wake me up this early to find out nothing?"

Ginny looked disappointed for a moment, but then a fire lit her eyes and Hermione knew that she was not to be daunted.

"Nothing, huh? I'll take your word for it…but from now on I'm keeping and eye on you and that boy Miss Granger. I don't want to have to hear anything through the rumor mill."

"I'm guessing that's how you heard about Brooks?" Hermione absentmindedly tried to shift her weight to her hurt ankle. "Ouch!" she yelped, when she realized her mistake a second too late. Ginny nodded her head at Hermione's visibly swollen ankle.

"Yeah I heard from someone else that you two had been seen together. How exactly are you getting around today with that thing?" Hermione turned bright red and mumbled something that Ginny couldn't understand.

"Sorry, didn't catch that last bit."

"I said," Hermione began again after clearing her throat, "that Brooks is helping me." Hermione couldn't bear to meet her friends eyes for she knew that the know it all smirk she was usually so proud of bearing was now plastered on her friends face.

"Yeah. You're right, nothing at all." Even though Hermione didn't see her, she could hear the sarcasm and mischievousness in Ginny's voice. "Of course, he might have something different to say. Surely you wouldn't mind if I just went and talked to him…." As Ginny's sentence trailed off Hermione's head jerked up and she looked at Ginny pleadingly.

"Oh Gin, you wouldn't would you?" Even though she thought Ginny was teasing her, one could never be quite sure.

"Hmmmm, " Ginny pretended to say thoughtfully, "Why, it seems as though now I hold all the cards, doesn't it?" she gave a fake little gasp of surprise. "Which means you better tell me all you know." Hermione knew that the cocky little red-head had her pinned. She sighed grudgingly.

"Give me a few minutes to get dressed and meet me in the common room. I'm sure no one is up and moving about this early." Ginny gave a delighted squeal and raced down the stairs anxiously. Hermione shook her head and limped back to her room, then shut the door behind her. She had to take a quick shower and then she pulled on the first thing she saw that matched and threw her hair up into a messy ponytail.

She looked at herself in the mirror. _Hmmmmm….somethings missing. _Her eye caught a couple of tubes and cases of cosmetics that belonged to Lavender. Hermione threw a cautious glance over to the bed. Lavender and all the other girls were still sleeping the morning away. _A little bit wouldn't hurt. _She decided. _Besides they have so much they probably wouldn't notice if I borrowed some anyway. _She looked through the brightly colored lipsticks, eye shadows and more. She finally settled on some plain mascara, tan eye shadow and a little bit of light pink lip gloss.

When she looked in the mirror again, she still looked the same to herself. _Oh well. It was worth a try. _She told herself gently. She took a quick look at her watch and almost jumped in the air for the door. She told Ginny she would be down in a few minutes and she had taken almost half and hour to get ready. No doubt people would have started stirring by now, because even as she was leaving the room one of the girls had started to rise.

When she finally made it down the stairs Ginny was waiting for her on one of the couches, her toe tapping in impatience. She gave her a look as she approached that plainly stated "Where have you been?" Hermione smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry I took so long. I needed a shower too." Ginny started to nod, then gasp in amazment as she drew level with Hermione.

"Hermione, are you wearing make up?" the shock in her tone made Hermione feel a little irritated. It was as though she was the last person on the earth that Ginny would have seen wearing makeup.

"Yes, I am." Hermione said indignantly. "Why?"

"Its just…well you're one of the last people I would have expected to wear makeup." In an instant the disbelief was gone and a knowing smile had once again appeared on Ginny's face. "So are you still trying to tell me that this thing with Brooks means nothing?" Hermione shushed her in alarm, looking around to see if anyone had heard her say the name that all of a sudden made her heart start beating quicker. Thankfully no one had.

"Come on, lets go down to breakfast. I'll tell you on the way." Hermione started pushing her towards the common room door but Ginny was eyeing her ankle warily.

"What about your ankle?"

"What about it?" Hermione snapped. She appreciated that her friend was concerned but she hated it when people pitied her.

"Its just that, while Brooks may be a help to you today, I certainly cant be. I'm not strong enough to help you out of the common room door."

"Oh pish-posh." Hermione said with a wave of her hand that nearly set her off balance. " I climbed through the portrait hole last night all by myself."

"I bet it hurt too." Ginny said in a voice so full of sympathy that it almost made Hermione cringe.

"Look Gin, I promise. I'll be okay." Ginny looked at her disbelievingly but headed towards the door slowly. Hermione followed right behind her, determined to show her that even though she was hurt, Hermione Granger could hold her own with the best of them. When the portrait hole had swung open however, Ginny stopped just on the other side. After Hermione had climbed through, very slowly and very delicately, she turned to see what Ginny was smiling at.

Brooks stood there, yawning and he had that just climbed out of bed hair. He waved good morning.

"Hey," he said as the portrait swung closed behind the two girls. It was amazing how just seeing him and hearing him talk made Hermione's heart beat faster and made her blush as red as Ginny's hair.

"Good morning," Ginny said, taking charge of the situation before either of them embarrassed themselves. "You must be Brooks. I'm Ginny Weasly, Hermione's friend. I was just here to make sure she got down to breakfast okay."

"Oh. Nice to meet you." He smiled at her and they shook hands. Hermione didn't know that he was so formal and polite. Then he turned to Hermione and smiled. "Well this is a nice surprise…" for a moment Hermione's heart fluttered, "…I thought I was going to have to wait for you all morning. Now we can go to breakfast and get to class on time." Much as she tried, she couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. For one split second she had thought he was glad to see her. Which he was, but only so he wouldn't have to wait out in the corridor.

She sighed silently to herself as Ginny walked on one side of her and Brooks on the other watching her ankle and making sure she didn't hurt herself again, steadying her when he needed to. She hated that he thought of her as a total klutz when all she could think about him was his wonderful smelling cologne, his dark curly hair, those amazing eyes and that perfect, perfect nose. She didn't know when she became so aware of these things only that they were there…and she most definitely noticed them.

**So what did you guys think??? Hope you liked. Please review. **

**LoTsA LoVe**

**MaYe**


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